Dead Alive
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Metascore
54 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 7 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 29 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Starring: Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin, Timothy Balme
  • Summary: On a quiet street, in a small town, pure evil has come to stay. An innocent young man forced to care for his domineering mother finds the task a whole lot more demanding after she's bitten by the cursed Sumatran rat monkey. Passing the point of death, Vera sucks friends and family into her gruesome existence among the living dead and Lionel is sent spiraling into a ghoulish nightmare. Now a crazed zombie, she soon infects enough people to make it difficult for Lionel, still the faithful son, to keep the neighbors from suspecting that something is terribly wrong. (Lion's Gate)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    78
    The "Citizen Kane" of Oedipal zombie-cannibal-right to death-comedy-love stories... So gleefully over-the-top that it's decidedly hard not to gag while you're laughing yourself incontinent... Sick. Perverse. Brilliant.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    75
    A gonzo splatterfest from New Zealand that manages to stay breezy and good-natured even as you're watching heads get snapped off of spurting torsos.
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Michael Gingold
    60
    An almost unrelenting barrage of gore, Dead Alive is also a constant assault on the funnybone, a film in which the graphic blood-spilling is taken so far over the top that it becomes hilarious instead of disgusting.
  4. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    20
    Because all of this looks blatantly unreal, and because the timing of the shock effects is so haphazard, Dead Alive isn't especially scary or repulsive. Nor is it very funny. Long before it's over, the half-hour-plus bloodbath that is the climax of the film has become an interminable bore. [12 Feb 1993, p.C16]
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See all 7 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. TheQuietGamer
    10
    Dead Alive, or Brain Dead as it's known in New Zealand, is basically a love story crammed with zombies, humor, and stomach-churning gore. It's absolutely hilarious, and not in the typical zombie-comedy way. It ends up coming across as more of a spoof of zombie movies, but in a good way, a funny way. The movie is regarded as the goriest movie of all time, and for good reason. Let me put it this way if your even the least bit squeamish DON'T watch this movie you will be sick. I loved every second of it, and it's now one of my favorite movies of all time. I highly recommend this to zombie-comedy fans, or just comedy fans who can put up with all the gore.… Expand
  2. Necromus
    10
    Long before Peter Jackson's King Kong or Lord of the Rings Trilogy there was this movie. Released as "Braindead" internationally but as "Dead Alive" in North America since there was already another movie called "Braindead" here (an annoying to watch but not bad movie BTW), Dead Alive is one of those movies that is so bad its good! This was one of the absolutely cheesiest horror movies I've ever seen, it's also the most gory horror movie I've ever seen. Bad acting, bad directing, intentionally cheesy lines by the characters and over-the-top gore make this movie one of the funniest movies that I have ever seen! It is best viewed with a bunch of your mildly drunk friends, you'll all have a riot watching this! BTW: Interesting fact: This movie along with another movie "Army of Darkness" are credited with inspiring the original gory "Doom" video game!… Collapse
  3. CanaMavrickTwo
    9
    Why did the critics give this a mediocre score? It's a great film full of gore and comedy. The goriest film I saw and one of the funniest too. Plus it's directed by Peter Jackson so you should definitely watch this.… Expand
  4. seifer
    5
    Gorier than most things you'll ever see. The movie's story is nowhere never as legendary than Friday 13th, Nightmare on elm street + 28 days. People will not remember this movie as one of the best HORROR movies of all time, but as one of the GORIEST movies of all time.… Expand

See all 12 User Reviews

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